The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge
Society of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Monthly Business Meeting
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church,
Manheim, PA
Sunday, August 5, 2018
President Tom Walczak
called the meeting to order at 2:03. He
welcomed everyone and led us in the pledge of allegiance.
NEW
MEMBERS AND GUESTS: None
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES – Tom
reminded everyone the minutes were available for review and he will ask for
approval later in the meeting.
TREASURER’S
REPORT: We have one new member, Stanley & Margaret
Zielinski of Alaska (formerly of Pennsylvania).
We have 400 members renewed for 2017-2018.
MEMBERS’
REPORTS:
Bonnie Shultz and her friend Shannon took a cross
country motorcycle trip. They saw Wolf
(IL-48-01 #2) which had graffiti inside and out and was very unpleasant and the
Hundred Covered Bridge (WV -52-01 #2) which had some minor roof damage.
Katie Helm stopped at Fort Hunter (PA-22-05 #2)
which looks as if it has recently been painted brown. There was evidence that the water level had been
high but didn’t look as if it had reached the bottom of the bridge.
Greg Williams saw Shenck’s Mill (PA-36-30 #2) and Kaufman’s
Distillery (PA-36-32 #2) which are both in good condition. He also visited Shearer’s (PA-36-31 #2), and
Red Run (PA-36-10) which appeared to be shored up on one end.
Pat Cook saw Shenck’s Mill which showed
evidence of high water around it. She
also visited Dellville (PA-50-16 #2) where they are
working on the roof on the south side.
All work at this time seemed to be on the south side of the bridge. She went to the Star Barn Dedication and had
a booklet which says Herr’s Mill (PA-36-21) will be moved there.
Joe McCarthy was not present but sent his report
to Jim who read it to the group. He says
there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at Blenheim sometime in October. Yesterday Joe was at Speakman #1 (PA-15-05)
removing graffiti. His company has
ordered timbers to be used to repair Sheeder-Hall (PA-15-12).
OFFICERS’
REPORTS:
President Tom Walczak
visited Shenck’s Mill. It was the first time he had seen it since the
headache bars were installed. They are
unsightly but hopefully will help protect the bridge from oversized
vehicles. The bridge was in good
shape. He also saw Claycomb (PA-05-12)
in Bedford County and took some nice photos.
He reminded members of his request for ideas of favorite bridges for an
article to be published in Wooden Covered Spans.
First Vice President Jim Smedley – No report.
The deadline for PA Crossings is the
October 14th meeting.
Second Vice President Ray Finkelstein visited all the bridges in Lehigh
County. He said Wehr’s (PA-39-02) showed
a little damage on the side. He mentioned
that quilt raffle tickets are available for sale.
Third Vice President Steve Wolfhope –No report.
Fourth Vice President Tim McLaughlin visited several bridges. He was at Speakman #1 after the heavy rains
and took a video which he posted on Facebook showing the water almost up to the
bottom of the bridge. He saw Red Run
which he says looks sad, is closed, and being used as a shed. He and Connie went to the Star Barn opening
which was phenomenal but couldn’t imagine where on the property they will put
Herr’s Mill bridge.
Historian Fred J. Moll reported that there was another
photograph of Wertz’s Bridge (PA-06-06) in the Reading Eagle Newspaper last month.
This time a family reunion had brought relatives back to Pennsylvania
and to Wertz’s Bridge. Next Sunday, the
12th, he will be giving a program on Berks County Covered Bridges at
2 o’clock in the barn next to the covered bridge. During his talk you will learn which Berks
covered bridge was built by Lewis Wernwag and not a local carpenter, which
covered bridge was our only crooked covered bridge in our county, and which
covered bridge was painted yellow and why.
Recording Secretary Gloria Smedley saw a Facebook video of Zook’s Mill
(PA-36-14) with water up to the deck and flowing through the bridge during this
past weekend’s heaving rains. She and
Jim stopped at Shearer’s before the meeting.
There are a few boards missing at the top center of the right side of
the bridge.
Corresponding Secretary/Program Chair
Pam Heisey : No report.
Treasurer Robert Kuether – KC Klingensmith and Bob Griner paid
a visit and Bob and Judy took them to see all the bridges in Perry County. Adairs (PA-50-04 #2) has some portal damage,
Saville (PA-50-07 #2) has damage at both ends, Kochenderfer’s (PA-50-09) was in
bad shape and at Red Bridge (PA-50-06) they have fixed the abutment but the
bridge needs cleaning and painting. He
got a call from someone named Jim who said a tree had damaged a
Lancaster-Chester County bridge. Bob and
Jim figured it must be Mercer’s which had a tree at one end. Tim and Connie McLaughlin will stop by
Mercer’s on the way home today to check it out.
Bob announced the following:
·
We
will be painting Davis (PA-19-16) and Snyder (PA-19-14) on Saturday, August
11th. We will start at Davis about
9:00-9:30 a.m. The painter will have
already painted the sides of Davis and members will paint the portals. The road
will be blocked off at Davis so we can park and a porta pottie will be provided
for our comfort. If we have enough volunteers
we will paint the portals of Snyder also.
Everyone is welcomed to participate or just come along to
socialize.
·
August
19th he will be representing the society at the Lancaster Bike
event.
·
October
3-7 is Knoebels
·
October
14th we will have our meeting and fundraiser at Hoss’s in Lititz.
ILLNESSES/DEATHS
of MEMBERS: Arnie Alexander passed away this past
week. Pam Mailey’s husband, Frank, is
recuperating from shoulder surgery.
Steve Wolfhope reported great results from his recent test after his
long bout with radiation for prostate cancer. Tim Cohen will be getting a
second opinion this week on the detached retina of his eye before a
determination is made on surgery.
OLD
BUSINESS – Our 60th
Anniversary Quilt raffle tickets are available for sale by Ray or Linda
Finkelstein. There will be a dedication
ceremony for Stillwater (PA-19-21) on August 25th from noon to 4:00
p.m.
Tom asked for ideas on next year’s
safari. Bob Kuether would like to visit
60 bridges in 2019 in honor of our 60th anniversary. He proposed one weekend safari (perhaps Columbia
County) and several other one day safaris.
Connie McLaughlin announced a car show
to be held at Poole Forge (PA-36-01) on October 14th. She and Tim will attend and can set up a
table for our society. Afterwards they
will go to Hoss’s to participate in our fundraiser.
Bob will have tickets next month to
hand out for those who wish to participate in dinner at Hoss’s.
NEW
BUSINESS – Next month’s meeting is our annual election of
officers. Katie Helm of the Nominating
Committee read the slate of officers for the new year:
President: Tom Walczak
First Vice President: Jim Smedley
Treasurer: Robert
J. Kuether
Second Vice President:
Ray Finkelstein
Recording Secretary:
(open)
Third Vice President:
Steve Wolfhope
Corresponding Secretary/ Program
Chairperson: Pamela Heisey
Fourth Vice President: Tim McLaughlin
Historian: Fred J. Moll
NEW
COVERED BRIDGE ITEM – Greg Williams shared a couple
paintings and a mug he found.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – July minutes were approved as
presented.
ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m.
following the movie “Covered Bridges of West Virginia”.
NEXT MEETING - Our Next Meeting will be our annual
meeting and election of officers here at the church on September 9th.
Respectfully
Submitted by Gloria Smedley, Recording Secretary
August
7, 2018